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Show HN: A $25 DIY alternative to $159 AI voice recorders – BYOK or local

A maker has launched Zeph, a $25 DIY alternative to $159 AI voice recorders, offering push-to-talk voice input into any app system-wide with bring-your-own-key or local operation. The device keeps audio and state on-device by default, encrypted with no cloud round-trip required, and displays agent signals such as rate limits, CI status and approval requests on an always-on face. Zeph ships with one SDK for sandboxed WASM apps portable across every Zeph board, with team features including bulk provisioning, SSO and policy listed as coming soon.

read1 min views1 publishedSep 24, 2026
Show HN: A $25 DIY alternative to $159 AI voice recorders – BYOK or local
Image: source

The voice-first physical AI interface for modern productivity.

Press to talk. Glance to read.

Push-to-talk, system-wide. Lives on your desk.

Watch your agent work.

Anywhere you are.

A pager, reborn for AI.

Your agents reach you.

Notes, distraction-free.

Your rate limit, at a glance.

Push-to-talk voice into any app, any field, system-wide — the companion types where your cursor is.

The signal you care about — rate limits, CI status, what's next — on the always-on face. Glance, don't reach.

Your agent puts what needs you on the screen: an approval, a result, a heads-up. You answer it right there, without reaching for your Mac.

Ship sandboxed WASM apps to the ecosystem. One SDK, portable across every Zeph device.

Audio and state stay on-device by default. Encrypted, yours, no cloud round-trip required.

Use it for Everyday

Dictate into any app, ask your agents out loud, catch a thought the moment it lands. No typing, no phone in hand, nothing to learn.

Developers

Voice a prompt, watch runs and rate limits on the glass, approve a deploy with one press — without leaving your editor.

Teams

Coming soon Kit out the whole team: bulk provisioning, one dashboard, SSO and policy. Like a pager — but it talks to your agents.

Makers

One SDK, sandboxed WASM apps, an open target. Ship a glance, a tool, a whole app — and it runs on every Zeph.

One SDK, every Zeph

One SDK, portable across every Zeph board. New hardware, same apps.

A two-minute look at the hardware companion your agents talk through.

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